Michigan carrier accused of hiding load revenue from owner-operators

Six owner-operators filed a proposed class action lawsuit Sept. 17 alleging Michigan-based Red Line Logistics Inc. understated freight revenue to drivers and kept the difference. The complaint claims Red Line used one transportation management system to track actual load values and a second system to show drivers lower amounts, then paid drivers a percentage of the reduced figure.

How did Red Line allegedly hide load revenue from drivers?

The plaintiffs claim Red Line entered actual load information into a TMS called Apex, then instructed dispatchers to reduce the load value before entering it into Sylectus, a second TMS drivers could access. Drivers would accept jobs believing the Sylectus amount represented the load's total value, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The lawsuit provides a hypothetical: Red Line bids $10,000 for a load but tells the owner-operator the load was worth $7,500. Red Line would allegedly retain the $2,500 difference before calculating the driver's contractual share from the lower amount.

One lease agreement cited in the complaint provided for the owner-operator to receive 80% of the load value while Red Line retained 20%. The plaintiffs allege drivers couldn't haul for other carriers during the term of the agreements.

What the dual-TMS setup allegedly allowed

The plaintiffs allege they did not have access to Apex. Drivers instead had access to Sylectus, which Red Line used to assign loads and handle driver-related information, the lawsuit states.

Red Line allegedly followed up with emailed settlement statements purporting to show the amount paid by the third party and the driver's share after expenses. The plaintiffs allege those statements sometimes failed to disclose the actual amount received by Red Line, allowing the carrier to keep the difference.

The complaint says the electronic communications involved could number in the thousands and alleges information about the purported load values also was communicated through email, text and voice-over-internet-protocol applications.

Who filed the lawsuit and what they're seeking

The plaintiffs are Adis and Denisa Bajgoric, Sasa Susa doing business as ASP Logistics, Mensud Topic, Edin Topic and George Ureche. They are suing Red Line Logistics, Zaim Bajgoric and Anel Penava.

The case is listed as Bajgoric et al. v. Red Line Logistics Inc. et al., No. 2:26-cv-13533. The class action lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The lawsuit estimates the proposed class consists of approximately 50 or more owner-operators. The plaintiffs are seeking actual damages that could be tripled under RICO, along with punitive damages, attorney fees, an accounting of profits and other relief.

The legal claims

The plaintiffs characterize the alleged conduct as a pattern of racketeering and bring claims under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. They allege the defendants' electronic transmission of false load values, invoices and settlement information constituted multiple acts of wire fraud in furtherance of the purported scheme.

The plaintiffs also allege breach of contract, claiming they were entitled to a percentage of what third parties paid Red Line to transport freight, but that the defendants instead disclosed a lower amount and retained the difference.

The complaint says the trucking operations at issue involved interstate and foreign commerce across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

What the complaint includes

The complaint includes several exhibits, including an interstate vehicle lease agreement and a driver pay sheet. The pay sheet lists four trips with $7,000 in trip-related pay before deductions.

Those exhibits document aspects of the parties' contractual and payment relationship but do not, by themselves, establish the alleged difference between what customers paid Red Line and what the company reported to drivers.

Red Line's response

The allegations have not been proven in court, and Red Line, Bajgoric and Penava have not filed a response to the claims in the publicly accessible docket. Red Line, based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, has active interstate motor carrier authority and is listed with 38 power units and 46 drivers in currently available carrier data.

FreightWaves contacted Red Line Logistics, Zaim Bajgoric and Anel Penava for comment on Sept. 25 and again Oct. 1 but had not received a response as of publication. FreightWaves also contacted plaintiffs' attorney Jeff A. DeLaunay of Miller Cohen on Sept. 25 and Oct. 1 seeking additional information. DeLaunay had not responded as of publication.

What this means for percentage-pay lease agreements

The lawsuit targets the transparency behind percentage-of-revenue compensation. If the allegations are proven, the case illustrates how dual-system setups can create information asymmetry when drivers lack access to the same load data the carrier uses.

Owner-operators on percentage-pay lease agreements should verify they have access to the same TMS or load-tracking system the carrier uses to book freight. Settlement statements should match the actual customer invoice. If a carrier uses one system internally and gives drivers access to a different system, ask why and request documentation of the actual load revenue before signing.